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The Legend of Zelda: The Spirit Realm
The Legend of Zelda: The Spirit Realm is the latest title in the Legend of Zelda franchise. Gameplay Overall, The Legend of Zelda: The Spirit Realm was designed to be the equal and opposite of Breath of the Wild. The game, rather than intentionally playing with the Zelda formula, plays every trope for all they're worth and attempts to balance the many beloved parts of the franchise. The game world isn't as expansive or open-ended as Breath of the Wild, but the story and gameplay are given extra focus to compensate. In short, The Spirit Realm is the epitome of a Zelda game and a love letter to the franchise. Story Note: Certain parts of the story are non-linear and can be done in multiple orders. The Death Mountain and Zora's Domain arcs are interchangeable, as are W-Desert, X-Frost, Y-Swamp, and Z-Cloudtops. For the sake of simplicity, these parts are listed in the most widely accepted "canon" order. A Hero's Fall and Rise The story begins with Link, a young adult under the training of the elderly swordsman Alexander, waking up in his room. He is immediately beset by his friends Bill and Betty, both of whom want Link to go get his sword from his master's house. Link goes to Ordon Village, retrieves his sword, and demonstrates the techniques he's learned from his apprenticeship. Bill and Betty are thrilled . . . at least, until a horde of Bokoblins attacks. Two of them nab Bill and Betty, and Link attempts to give chase, but a Moblin clubs him over the head and knocks him off a hillside. Link awakens and meets a mysterious figure in a cloak. Though he immediately wants to rescue his friends from the Bokoblins, the figure informs him of the sad truth: Link is dead. After helping poor Link get over the shock, the figure introduces himself as Mort, guide of Hylian souls to their final resting places. Mort takes Link's hand, ready to help him on his way, but Link snatches his hand away. Mort, impressed with Link's courage, realizes the heroic spirit contained within him. With his new perspective, Mort informs Link of some unfortunate happenings. All throughout Hyrule, more and more fallen souls have been unable to reach their rest, taking on the forms of Poes. Mort suspects someone is intentionally keeping the souls trapped in the Spirit Realm, the world between Hyrule and the afterlife, and may even be linked to the Bokoblins that kidnapped Bill and Betty. Therefore, Mort strikes a deal: if Link helps stop whoever is keeping souls from the afterlife, Mort will let him live out the rest of his days and enable him to save his friends. With no other choice but death, Link agrees to help Mort investigate the odd goings-on. The Stones of the Goddesses Satisfied with Link, Mort restores him to life and tells him that the Bokoblins likely fled into Faron Woods. A fallen tree blocks the way, but Mort grants Link a secret magical power. With it, he is able to take on the form of a ghost; while he cannot use most items in this form, he has access to ghostly powers. Link uses his newfound abilities to locate an abandoned Armos statue and smash the tree, granting him access to the deeper woods. There, he hears a mysterious voice Mort recognizes as his cohort Blight, who reaps the souls of the Deku as Mort does for Hylians. Blight has been captured and sealed away in Farore's Emerald, one of the three Stones of the Goddesses that have protected Hyrule since times long forgotten. Mort, shocked but determined, tells Link to head straight for the Forest Temple, the home of Farore's Emerald. Continues through Faron Woods, Link enters the hidden Deku Village, and the Deku Scrubs living there guide him to the Forest Temple. There, he navigates the temple's twisted passageways, battles a fearsome duo of Moblins, and obtains the Gale Boomerang hidden away in the temple. With its power, he is able to find and defeat Quadrababa, an enormous four-headed plant that had been corrupting the temple. The vanquished plant turns out to be guarding Farore's Emerald, and Blight is glad to be rescued, but informs Link and Mort of grave news: The other two reapers, Ruin and Wither, have also been captured and sealed in the remaining two Stones of the Goddesses. Mort surmises that whoever had the reapers sealed is probably also barring the lost souls from the afterlife and clearly doesn't want anyone near the stones. Therefore, the best course of action to find this villain would be to collect the other two stones and save the reapers. Link arrives back in Ordon Village, only to find that the town is being terrorized by a rogue wild horse. He tames it with seemingly little effort, and having formed a bond with the horse, names it Epona. With Epona and Mort by his side, Link sets out across Hyrule Field to find Death Mountain.